4 Beauty Cafes to Visit in Seoul, Korea.
[1] Innisfree Green Cafe
Innisfree Green Cafe in Myeongdong and Innisfree Jeju House in Samcheongdong. Innisfree is a Korean beauty brand that’s owned by the Amore Pacific conglomerate, and is known for being Korea’s first all natural beauty brand that comes from Jeju Island, Korea. Many of their products and the cafe as well feature things that Jeju Island is known for – green tea, volcanic clusters, sparkling mineral water, and tangerines. We will leave the beauty and skin care products for another video, and just talk about the cafe here. I love the look and feel of the cafe, which is very clean and modern, with a lot of greenery and wide open spaces. The food is also fresh and light. If you are what you eat, then this is my favorite beauty cafe. I ordered a mozzarella pesto salad, which came with this black bread. I also liked the cous shrimp dish. These japanese style fluffy pancakes were a little too eggy for me, but I’m spoiled having lived in Japan for 3 years. I also tried the shrimp cous cous which was really light and refreshing with a slight citrus taste. That’s a cheese crisp that you see on top which adds the right amount of savoriness to this light dish. I also tried the hallabong citrus drihk which I found to be extremely sweet. Another thing I tried was the omija tea, which you mix and sweeten yourself with the small jar of syrup, so you can adjust the sweetness. If you want, you can experience 4 different types of virtual reality for free. In these videos, they are basically explaining the origin of their products and taking you around Jeju Island. Overall this is my favorite of all the beauty cafes in Korea – both for the decor and the food.
Innisfree Green Cafe in Myeongdong
Address: 64-2 Myeongdong 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul
Metro: Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4, Exit 5 or 6) OR Euljiro 1-ga (Subway Line 2, Exit 5)
[2] Skin Food Cafe
Skin food cafe is located in Sinsa-dong, on Garosugil street. It’s a bright yellow building with a yellow van parked out front. You can enter the cafe through the skin food store on the first floor, or from the side. The cafe is on the second floor and it’s pretty bright and cheery. There are little vignettes where skin food products are featured. This cafe also seems to focus on healthy food choices. But if you look at the cafe, they don’t actually have a kitchen. Everything is pre-made, and put into little tupperware. The workers then assemble the salads, pasta, sandwiches, and drinks. The variety of foods offered here is pretty impressive given that they don’t actually have a kitchen, I’ve been here twice, the first time we ordered just drinks which were kind of pricey but that’s to be expected in Seoul. The drinks were really sweet for a healthy lifestyle cafe. The second time we ordered 3 dishes, the pasta, this rainbow salad, and a platter of 5 different sandwiches. I really liked the salad which came with some sort of yuzu citrus dressing, but the other two dishes were not that great. This food definitely reminds me of something I can make easily at home, and I”m not a good cook. We ordered one of the more gimmicky drinks, like a coffee made of coffee ice cubes where you pour milk over the ice cubes. That was actually really underwhelming and not that great. Finally we ordered the peach shaved ice, which looked amazing in the photo but when we received it, it seemed really artificial and gross. Despite the pretty decor ,the food was anything but healthy. They did have a good Americano coffee though. The rooftop is supposed to have a garden, but when I went, it looked like it wasn’t well tended. It was really run down and a little dangerous for kids. I went in april so maybe they had some planting to do?
Skin Food Cafe in Sinsa (Garosugil Street)
Address: 37 Apgujeong-ro 12-gil, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Metro: Sinsa Station (Subway Line 3, Exit 8)
[3] VANT 36.5
VANT 36.5 is named after the first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, and his osmotic pressure law. VANT 36.5 applies this principle to its products to create perfectly concentrated formulas that are able to be absorbed by skin at its optimum temperature: 36.5℃. VANT 36.5 previously sold exclusively at dermatology clinics. But, due to increasing demand, the brand decided to make its products available to all consumers. It is located in Hongdae and is super instagrammable, especially the patio. Look at this green astro turf, the bright pink building, and this hammock chair. It’s a great place to take pretty photos. The cafe is a small dessert and coffee bar. There are a small selection of desserts, juices and coffees. I got some meringues which were surprisingly good, and my usual flat white, which was also good. In the back there is a patio where you can take photos with cardboard cutouts of BTS group members, and they even have cute props you can use. There are two scary cats which seem to clam the back area though. This seems like a nice area to relax. There’s also a room that you can reserve with a mic and a nice view of the patio. This seems like a nice place to have a small private party. I wonder if BTS comes here at all? There is additional seating on the second floor, where the cosmetics and skincare products are located.
Vant 36.5 in Hongdae
Address: 84 Wausan-ro 29ga-gil, Sinsa-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Website: http://vant365.net (Korean only)
Metro: Hongik University Station (Subway Line 2, AREX, or Gyeongui–Jungang Line)
[4] b. by Banila
The fourth place, b by banila, is not a true beauty cafe because it doesn’t actually serve food, but wouldn’t you expect them to? They have the tables and chairs ready, it’s so retro and colorful. I love this american diner style. In the back of the store there are all these fun little props – a beauty camper, a pink telephone booth, and a corner filled with this fun pink shimmery disco decor. If you purchase something here, you can also play their claw machine for free. I can imagine them serving some sort of food here one of these days, but I don’t know. This is located in Coex mall which is where you can find the Starfield Library so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, it’s worth checking out.
b. by Banila Flagship store in Starfield Coex Mall
Address: 513 Yeongdong-daero, Samseong 1(il)-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Website: www.starfield.co.kr/coexmall
Metro:
Samseong Station (Seoul Subway Line 2, Exit 5 or 6)
-Enter COEX Mall through the connecting passageway.
Cheongdam station (Seoul Subway Line 7, Exit 2)
-Walk straight out of the exit for about 10~15 mins.
-Walk into ASEM Square that leads to COEX Mall.
That’s all! I actually wanted to add another beauty cafe – at fox beauty, which served afternoon tea. But when I went to visit it in Hongdae, it had closed down only two months ago. Also the second floor of the Medi Heal store own Myeongdong had a bts cafe for a while. They served free drinks to anyone who purchased something downstairs. It was open around christmas time, but when I went back recently it was closed. These cute cafes in shops in Seoul area dime a dozen, and others are pop up shops. so the day before you go, make sure to check online to see if they’re still open.